What Twitter Tells Us about Health

According to a recent study, researchers may be able to use information from Twitter to improve public health. It seems people’s tweets may provide helpful insight into how healthy their lifestyles are.

Researchers at the University of Oregon and the University of Washington collected a percentage of randomly selected tweets tagged with a geographic location in the U.S. between April 2015 and March 2016. Then they created an algorithm using about 25 search terms to classify and sort the tweets by happiness level, activity level, diet, etc. Using this information, the researchers built a map of the United States, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Interestingly, high numbers of tweets about happiness, physical activity, and healthy foods corresponded with areas that have lower rates of chronic health problems like diabetes and obesity. Researchers admit Twitter users are not a perfect sample of Americans, but social media may soon become an important source of health information.

Migraines Linked to Bacteria

Migraine headaches can be debilitating and affect about 38 million people in the U.S. Although a number of migraine triggers have been identified, the exact cause of the painful headaches is unknown. Now, a new study has found that people who suffer from these painful headaches have high levels of a certain type of bacteria in their mouths.

Foods—including chocolate, red wine, processed meats, certain vegetables, and others—are common migraine triggers. All of these foods contain high levels of nitrates. Bacteria in the mouth convert nitrates to nitrites, which may be changed to nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide improves blood flow and reduces blood pressure—drugs containing nitric oxide are prescribed for people with certain heart conditions. About 4 in 5 people who take these medications experience severe headaches as a side effect.

Researchers compared oral bacteria levels in migraineurs to levels in people who do not get migraines. The found little difference in the types of bacteria present, but people who suffer from migraine headaches had significantly higher levels of nitrate, nitrite, and nitric oxide-related enzymes. More research is needed.

Smartphones Reduce Productivity

The jury is in: constant connectivity impedes our ability to get things done. The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High Tech World, by neuroscientist, Dr. Adam Gazzaley and research psychologist and professor emeritus, Larry Rosen explains why our brains just cannot multitask the way many of us want.

When we focus on one task at a time, the different parts of the brain—prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, visual and auditory areas, for example—all work together. When we multitask, we force the different areas of our brain to work independently of each other and dividing our attention in this way often leads to mistakes.

Additional research shows that constant multitasking and connectivity with multiple media is hurting our brain’s ability to think in important ways. So the next time you’re on that conference call, don’t respond to that important email. While you’re writing up that proposal, don’t check your text messages. Create digital boundaries. Your brain (and perhaps, your boss) will thank you.